In the early 19th century, Caleb Cotton wrote “Imitation is the sincerest flattery”, a quote worth noting because throughout history humans have borrowed or imitated culture, ideas, rituals, and songs from each other:

As the Roman Republic expanded and grew into an empire, they absorbed many foreign belief systems into their own with the Greek pantheon being the most obvious. When the United States was a burgeoning country, Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics to “My Country tis of thee” but ironically used the melody to “God Save the Queen”. Giuseppe Arcimboldo. a 16th century painter, fascinated Salvador Dali and other surrealists. Sali borrowed Arcimboldo’s idea of hidden faces and expanded it into hidden pictures in many of his works. In the early 2000s, fashion designers mysteriously decided to bring back the 1970s, leading to bell bottom jeans and platform shoes becoming popular again.

The Christmas season is also borrowed, though the borrowing took place centuries ago. The…